vgcwfandomcom-20200215-history
Basic wrestling terms
A list of terms used in professional wrestling, given here to help newcomers understand the industry lingo. A 'Angle' A storyline in wrestling. Usually begins with one wrestler or stable insulting or assaulting another, and results in a feud. Angles are usually resolved after a few months, but some (like WCW's nWo angle ) last for years. VGCW is divided into seasons, each focused on an angle. 'A-Match' Matches featuring top talent. B 'Botch' A wrestler messes up a scripted move in the ring. Wrestlers will attempt to ignore the botch or play it off as a whiff or regular part of the match, even when it is obvious to the audience. In VGCW, THQuality often causes this. 'Book' The schedule of events for the night. It differs from a fight card in that the book contains non-kayfabe information, such as who wins, storyline and the like. The booker is the person responsible for making and arranging the matches, and making sure it all fits into the current angle. 'B-Show' Matches featuring lesser talent. VGCW typically starts off with a few of these to warm up. WWE has several shows based around this to complement the two major shows RAW and SmackDown. 'Burial' The intentional lowering of a once popular wrestler's status by destroying him in a match, or entering him in known unpopular angles. Famous example in VGCW is what happened to Ganondorf during the infamous 32-5 match. C 'Cheap heat' An easy way for heels to incite a negative reaction. Commonly done by insulting the crowd, the city where the show is held or the local sports team. Dan Hibiki did this to cement his heel turn in VGCW, and in real-life pro wrestling, The Rock was one of the masters of the art. 'Cheap pop' Similarly, to get easy positive reactions from the crowd by commendating the city or the local sports team. Mick Foley did this all the time during his career as a pro wrestler, and also coined the term. D 'Dark match' An untelevised undercard match. F 'Face' Shorthand for "babyface". Traditionally seen as a fan favorite, the face is now simply considered to be a more heroic "good guy" wrestler. Faces are not always the most popular anymore, simply the ones with the most noble intentions. Examples in real wrestling would be Hulk Hogan and John Cena, and Mr. Satan in VGCW. 'Fall' The end of the match. Can come from pinfall, submission, count out, or disqualification. 'Feud' A rivalry between two wrestlers/teams/stables, usually as the result of an Angle. Usually this results in a series of matches between the feuding wrestlers and particular ends with one side coming out on top of another in a dramatic fashion. An example in VGCW is the feud between Little Mac and Zangief. 'Finisher' A wrestler's signature move, and usually their most powerful. A finisher almost always has a name unique to the wrestler using it, and there are sometimes certain theatrics or catchphrases involved to make the move stand out. A list of the VGCW roster's finishing moves can be found in the Finishing Moves article. 'Future Endeavored' A euphemism for a pro wrestler being fired from a company. Taken from the boilerplate, 'We wish Wrestler luck in their future endeavors," press releases when announcing a departure. H 'Heel' Traditionally the less popular wrestlers, the heel is now the "bad guy" stereotype. During the 1990s, heels started to become far more popular among the fanbase, leading to something of a blurring of the old lines between face and heel. Regardless, heels are still generally portrayed as arrogant cheaters or violent powerhouses, usually in someone's pocket. Examples in real wrestling would be CM Punk and Ric Flair, and Raphael and Dan Hibiki in VGCW. 'Hot tag' When a badly beaten wrestler tags in his fresh partner, who unleashes a quick burst of offense. 'Heat' Negative crowd reaction. A heel is judged by how well they can generate heat, in other words, by how good they are at making people hate them. Dan Hibiki and Lightning are good examples of wrestlers who draw a lot of heel heat. J 'Jobber' A wrestler who loses frequently. A jobber is "brought in to do a job" (lose) and is generally an easy way to get other wrestlers over. VGCW examples include Egoraptor, Vegeta (early on), and Gary Oak. In real pro wrestling jobbers are usually the wrestlers who are less over among fans, or that are not involved in any current angles. In VGCW however, Vegeta, despite almost never winning, was a very popular wrestler. 'Jobber to the Stars' A wrestler who defeats the lesser jobbers but is routinely defeated by top tier wrestlers. These wrestlers are generally labeled as "lower end mid-carders" and generally compete for the Casual Championship. VGCW examples include Waluigi and Ezio Auditore. Santino Marella and Zack Ryder are some real pro-wrestling examples. K 'Kayfabe' The "fourth wall" in wrestling. Kayfabe is the shared pretending between audience and performers that everything seen in professional wrestling is unscripted, and that the fights are for real. For most of the 20th century, promoters swore that everything that happened in the ring was the real deal. As wrestling grew in popularity and its angles became more and more over-the-top, the facade has dropped, although fans still enjoy the show all the same. Although VGCW's matches are actually unscripted and only the angles are made up beforehand, Phoenix Wright broke a type of kayfabe as he as he used video game terminology to explain why the Glitch Bomb had to be banned and Donkey Kong suspended. 'Kick out' One way to escape a pin, this uses the force of a leg kick to raise the shoulders off the mat, thereby escaping the pin. In VGCW, due to poor AI programming, wrestlers will almost always kick out at 1. L 'Ladder Match' A match in which the object is not to pin all the other wrestlers, but rather to retrieve an item hanging over the ring, usually a title belt or suitcase. Money in the Bank matches are always fought in this manner. M 'Mark' Among wrestling fans, this is a term for a fan who treats wrestling like it's real, but within the business it is a term for all wrestling fans. 'Marking out' Acting as if wrestling is legit, even when you know it's not. 'Money in the Bank' A variation of the Ladder Match, with a suitcase hanging above the ring containing a 'contract'. The wrestler who successfuly gets the suitcase wins the match, is given the moniker "Mr. Money in the Bank" and gets an automatic title shot which can be redeemed at any time, for any title, by cashing in the briefcase to a ring official. N 'No sell' To show no, or very little, reaction to an opponent's moves, especially their finisher. Hulk Hogan was famous for this when he started "hulking up." THQuality makes this very common in VGCW. 'Number one contender' The person who is next in line for a title shot. O 'Over' To be well-accepted by fans as a wrestler. Can be over as a face or a heel, but either way, a popular (or popularly hated) wrestler. Face examples in VGCW include Nappa and Barret Wallace, while a notable heel example is Ganondorf, who became so over that he was eventually turned face. P 'Paper champion' A weak, easily beaten champion, usually one who has been given the belt through outside meddling. It's worth noting that most victims of the so-called Gerudo Curse are usually not this, as that is merely a result of THQuality 'Pop' Positive reaction from the crowd. A face is judged by how well he can get this. Promotion A company that sets up Wrestling events. The arguably most well known of these is World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). The VGCW as a whole concidered a promotion. R 'Royal Rumble' A type of match which begins with 2 wrestlers in the ring, with another wrestler set to run in at a set interval of time until a total of 30 have entered the ring. Wrestlers are eliminated by being thrown over the top rope with both feet touching the floor, and the last wrestler standing is the winner. Due to the work involved in choreographing such a match, the real-life Royal Rumble is only held one a year at its titular event. In VGCW however, Royal Rumbles are commonly seen on the match card. 'Run in' When a wrestler runs in from the back to interrupt a match or promo, this usually results in a beat down. 'Russo swerve' Named after former WWE and WCW writer Vince Russo, a Russo swerve is a plot twist that generally makes no sense and seems to exist purely for surprise and shock value, ignoring characters' personalities and histories, previously established plot, or just plain common sense. Popular VGCW examples include Charles Barkley losing to Vegeta and then going on to win the Royal Rumble the same night. 'Rope Break' During a submission or pin, if the target is able to either touch the rope, or extend their legs beyond the ropes, this is considered a rope break, and the hold must be stopped. S 'Screwjob' A controversial and unfair finish, generally the result of cheating or outside interference. The most famous in VGCW would be the Soviet Screwjob, wherein Bazza restarted a match that Zangief had won quickly, resulting in Zangief losing the rematch. 'Squash' A short, one sided match. Usually is a part of a burial, or putting over a monster face/heel such as Goldberg and Ryback. A VGCW example would be Majin Vegeta's first appearance and his subsequent dismantling of Waluigi. 'Sell' To react to an opponent's attacks in a somewhat realistic manner. 'Shoot' A match or event that hasn't been booked, and is not choreographed. Synonym for "real". Most "Sports Entertinment" wrestling matches are not shot and are instead "Worked" in favor of drama and narative. Amusingly, given it's WWE origins, VGCW matches are "shoot" matches due to the narative being largely placed in the hands of the results of matches determined by the computer and the rare use of "Events" such as chractrers running in or otherwise interfering with a match. 'Spot' A specific moment or sequence during a match, usually a particular move, technique, or stunt. "Spots" tend to be meant as the most memorable moments of the match and ideally help elevate the match. 'Stable' A team of multiple wrestlers who share the same goals, and allies and work together to advance a storyline. An example in real wrestling would be The Four Horsemen, and The Drac Pack in VGCW. 'Strap' A championship belt. 'Swerve' An unexpected plot twist. T 'Tap out' To give up when in a submission hold. This is indicated by tapping the mat, and results in a loss for the tapping wrestler. 'Turn' When a wrestler switches between heel and face. In other words, when a good guy becomes a bad guy, and vice versa. 'Tweener' Short for "in-betweener", a tweener is a wrestler who toes the line between face and heel, or who repeatedly switches between the two. Donkey Kong and Scorpion are this in VGCW, and the Big Show is a real pro-wrestling example. W 'Worked' Matches and Events that have thier events choreographed to a certain extent in the name of narative. Most "Sports Entertainment" wrestling matches are Worked. The opposite of "Shot". X 'X-Pac heat' Named after Sean Waltman's character of X-Pac (also known as the 1-2-3 Kid and Syxx), X-Pac heat is the wrong kind of heat. This is when the fans genuinely hate the performer, instead of simply their in ring character. A good heel is hated, but still popular and capable of drawing fans. In that case, the fans want to see the heel get his comeuppance. A wrestler recieving X-Pac heat is so hated that they are actually repellent to fans. In this case, the fans hate the person behind the character so much that they do not want to see them on television at all. This is usually considered the kiss of death for a wrestler, prompting the booker to either seriously revamp their in-ring persona or fire them outright. The most notable example in VGCW is Kratos. The Game Grumps also get this from a lot of VGCW fans. Barkley is starting to draw this kind heat from a percieved overpowered caw as well as a lack of participation in storylines and other transgressions (precived and real) which lead to the less than cival crowd banter that ensured as a result of his winning the King of the Ring Tournament on 2013-05-11 This sort of heat has, however, opened up storyline points as Dan's own X-Pac Heat, drawn when he ousted Ash in the Royal Rumble event on 2013-01-16 lead to the chracter joining forces with Dracula, leading to the events of Wreslevania. Category:Miscellaneous Information